Just A Hug
by DragonWinglet
Summary: He knew he couldn't complain. His best friend didn't have parents. Roy didn't either – and he didn't get along with Ollie. Kaldur's father was a supervillain for god's sake! In what universe did he have room to complain! So instead he suffered through the abuse. When he can't sleep, hoever, he just wants to talk to his Best friend. What comes out of that? Warning: Implied Child Ab
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N): Hey all. I'm a terrible person. Don't sue me.**

 **Warning: Illusions to Child Abuse.**

 **I no own.**

The West household was… miserable at best. At least it was for Wallace West. It had always been that way. For some reason, apparently, his parents hadn't thought that having a kid would mean actually loving and nurturing that child. Of course, that led to him having to pull the short straw of life. In other words, his life was shit.

He knew he couldn't complain. His best friend didn't have parents. Roy didn't either – and he didn't get along with Ollie. Kaldur's father was a supervillain for god's sake! In what universe did he have room to complain?! So instead he suffered through it. He knew Robin knew. He knew at least some of it. Batman did as well – but his uncle didn't. And he liked to keep it that way. When people started asking questions, his father got nicer on the outside – but the beatings got worse. If the Dynamic Duo knew the extent of these beatings, Wally knew they wouldn't hesitate to do anything.

And even though he knew he couldn't complain, he still cried himself to sleep at night.

Tonight was no different. Except… the crying didn't cave into the regular relief of sleep. Instead, he lay still, staring at the ceiling until he ran out of tears. He was tired but he couldn't sleep.

Wally West was exhausted.

He stood up, and the movement seemed to shake more tears from his eyes, dispite him being sure that he was out of them. His hands shook as he reached for his doorknob, wincing as the movement irritated the freshly formed bruises. He hadn't changed before he collapsed into his bed. He didn't change once he got up. The thought didn't cross his head. He started to run, but with an almost inaudible cry of pain, he collapsed instead. He got up and trudged slowly to the zeta-tube.

He knew he was limping. That his detective-best-friend would notice it.

He didn't care, instead pulling out the emergency override that Robin had given him, the override that would allow him to get into the Batcave without having to have either Batman or Robin's permission first. It red his retinas, then the override chip he put into it, and then he must have passed out because when he opened his eyes, he was staring into the cold blue eyes of Bruce Wayne.

"—allice, what happened?" His voice wasn't the gravelly affectation that he used when he was Batman, and Wally squinted at him for a moment.

"I… I was just in the Zeta Tube…" He trailed off, his mind moving sluggishly, trying to put together what had happened. Bruce helped him to stand.

"You fell unconscious. Appeared here." The blue eyes narrowed, but Bruce seemed to decide not to ask what had happened. Instead he slowly helped Wally to his feet.

"I… okay," he said lamely, sighing as he remembered why he was here. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I just… ugh. Nevermind. I'm kind of dumb." His words began moving more quickly as he spoke, and he hung his head, now in a standing position thanks to Bruce's help.

"Does it have something to do with that?" the older man replied, gesturing to his aching and probably swollen green eye. Wally blinked dumbly.

"Uhh… Would you believe me if I told you no?" he asked, and affected a smile that felt wrong to himself. The older man shook his head, a single eyebrow raised. He took a step back now that the younger speedster was supporting himself. He took in every injury in the time it took the redhead to teeter without the extra support. By the time Bruce caught him, he'd guessed that the younger one had a sprained knee, favoring that leg. He seemed uncomfortable in his own skin, holding his arms away from is skin. His balance seemed off, and his eyes darted nervously around. There were several minor scrapes and bruises along his arms, neck and face, and he seemed disoriented and confused. There were, of course, the dried tear tracks along his face that he seemed not to care about.

Bruce had known about the abuse. He didn't think it was this bad. He had been waiting for Wally to step forward, he knew that often abuse got worse if someone else involved.

Wally whimpered slightly as Bruce lunged toward him, as if he was expecting something significantly more painful than to be caught.

Still supporting the upset boy, whose tears had started again, Bruce reached forward and pressed a button on the console in front of him. Alfred's voice was as collected as anything else he'd heard – despite having just been woken up.

"Yes, Master Bruce?" he asked, a hardly-there edge to his voice when he heard Wally's barely-suppressed sobs.

"I need your help. Bring Dick." The words were barely out of his mouth before Wally protested.

"No! You don't need to wake him up it's not really that bad and please I can just go home I don't even know why I came here I just couldn't sleep and…" He trailed off at the look on Bruce's face, who was staring at him with a mizture of sympathy and concern – a mixture that he'd never seen on the Dark Knight's face before.

"Dick's already coming. You need to sit. Alfred is going to check you out." His voice was still steady and firm dispite the look on his face. Before Wally could object anymore, however, there was the soft noise of running bare feet. Dick stood in front of him in a pair of sweats and a loose tee-shirt, eyes wide with worry.

"Walls! Are you okay?" It didn't take a genius to tell that he was scared, and the pitch of his voice translated instead as irritation to Wally. He winced and scrambled to his feet.

"I-I'm sorry! I can leave!" but as he tried to run, he tripped and sprawled on the ground. Instead of standing, he just curled into a ball, no longer able to suppress the sobs. A gentle hand landed on his back, reminding him of his uncle, and he looked up. Dick was kneeling over him, breathing deeply, worry still on his face.

"I'm sorry Walls. I don't want you to leave. Hang out here for a bit so Al can fix you up." The redhead just nodded slowly, looking defeated, tears still falling. Alfred had been standing behind him, and he began looking at the wounds while Bruce stood behind him, watching steadily. Dick looked like he wanted to cry as every injury was revealed, but he was holding it in. He rubbed circles on his best friend's back, speaking to him slowly, soothingly.

His tears slowly stopped as Alfred wrapped his knee. One cut in his scalp, bleeding unnoticed in the commotion, needed a handful of stitches.

Bruce sat next to him as the treatment continued, keeping a respectful distance. Wally yawned.

"I'm going to call Barry," he said, and Wally forgot all tiredness. He leapt to his feet, gasping in pain, and not noticing his knee hitting Alfred. The butler didn't say anything.

"No. No. You can't do that. Please don't!" His breathing started coming in short gasps as he looked panicked around the room. "I'll go home, I'll be fine!" What would his uncle think if he found out that he let his dad do this? Wally was supposed to be the hero, not the victim.

Dick placed a hand on Wally's shoulder. The redhead almost immediately leaned into it.

"Please. We need someone to look after you." Wally started, before a wave of dizziness took over him.

"Wallace. You have a concussion. You need to sit." Alfred's voice was soothing and firm at the same time when he took the younger boy's hand, leading him to the bed in the Batcave's med bay. Rubbed at his forehead for a moment before Dick slapped his hand away.

"You'll make it worse."

"Can't I just go home?" he asked, ignoring the entire interaction that had just happened. Dick shook his head vehemently as Bruce spoke again.

"Wally, I can't let you do that. And do you really want to?" Wally yawned again, despite his attempts to stave off the tiredness.

"I…" Wally looked at Dick, the younger boy's blue eyes wild with worry, and sighed. "No. But—"

"No buts!" Dick said, louder than he'd intended to, lowering his voice as Wally winced. "We're calling Barry and he's going to take care of you while Bruce and I visit—"He cut himself off at a hard look from the aforementioned guardian.

Wally wanted to ask about what Dick had said, but he was just too tired. Bruce had walked from the room, pulling up the League's emergency communication on the computer in the Cave, and Dick poked him in the side, in between bruises.

Wally wasn't quite sure when he'd taken his shirt off, but it was probably when Alfred had examined him.

"Hey, Walls, don't fall asleep. You have a concussion." Wally mumbles something, leaning his head on his best friend's shoulder. "Seriously Wally! Stay awake!" The bruises were already turning the sickly yellow color that meant they were healing. Dick shoved his side. Hard.

"Hey!" he said loudly, then winced at his own volume.

"Sorry." Dick said, but he looked nothing like it.

"Sure you are," he said, tiredly, suddenly reminded of all of the wounds on his side. Suddenly, he looked up, a delicious smell permeating the room.

"Freshly baked," Alfred said, smiling at Wally. He dived on them, ignoring the burning in his tongue as he ate. He was suddenly aware of the sharp pain his split lip brought, then shook his head slightly, as if to clear it. Dick laughed, shaking his head.

"There should be more coming."

Then there were strong arms surrounding him, a voice choking on apologies that he could barely understand they were said to fast. He smiled at the familiar smell of his uncle, closing his eyes and ignoring the pain that came with the hug.

Finally, with his uncle's arms around him and his best friend's hand on his back, the taste of Alfred's chocolate chip cookies still on his tongue, he sighed, burying his face into Barry's chest. His tears had started again, but no one could see.

Maybe it would get worse but what he really needed when he'd left his bed that night was a hug – and that's exactly what he got.

 **Everyone should hug sad Wallys. There you go.**

 **Let me know if you want a sequel!**

 **~Winglet**


	2. Punching Things and Court Cases

**(A/N): Hey, so a sequel was in high demand here! And I had a plot bunny.**

 **The court system thing was based off an experience I had with my best friend, I looked up the different punishments available.**

 **Here is your sequel!**

 **Warning: Cursing. And illusions to child abuse.**

Punching Things and Court Cases

Dick Grayson didn't know how to handle his friend showing up at his home, covered in cuts and bruises, crying and scared. He didn't know how to handle Barry showing up seconds after Bruce told him what happened, hugging his nephew and crying himself. His mentor was good at teaching him things – but not feelings.

Robin, however, knew how to handle being angry at criminals. He knew how to fight someone, how to scare them, how to arrest them. He knew how to handle that. That was what his mentor had taught him.

So it was only logical that once he donned the cape and the mask, Dick's uncertainty and worry melted away until it was nothing but Robin's calculation and rage.

When they got to the West residence, Batman allowed him to go in first. So Robin did. And he went right through the front door. Or planned to. When it turned out to be locked, he didn't let that stop him. He just literally went _through_ the door. The wood splintered and the door swung open, slamming against the wall. That hit wasn't enough to get his rage out.

He knew that Wally's parents would be awake from that, probably running to him because of the loud noise. So he waited. The wind caught his cape and he had to admit; he looked pretty fuckin' awesome. Then Rudolph was at the hallway leading to their bedrooms with a shaking baseball bat in his hands and his eyes blinking blearily.

"Who—" Robin didn't let him finish, instead stepping forward slowly, allowing his heels hit on the ground and echo, the noise somehow filling up the small space verging on deafening.

"Name's Robin. Maybe you've heard of me. Hero, strikes fear into the heart of villains everywhere." The line would normally have been said lightly, but instead, his eyes were narrowed and his voice was like a deadly blade.

"I'll go get Wally," the man grumbled. "I hope you're paying for the door." Robin was shocked at the mans inability to read the mood, or even feel the murderous aura around him. But one glance at the discarded alcohol canisters around him told him everything he needed to know.

"Yeah, no. Sorry. Wall's at the Batcave, getting patched up after his most recent beating. The beating, I assume, that you administered." Robin's voice stopped Rudolph and he turned, bat held limply at his side.

"Beatings? I-I don't know what you're talking about." Robin's harsh bark of laughter made the man jump, and he stepped to he was almost nose to nose with the man.

"Did you know that Wally West is my best friend?" His voice was cold and dangerous, and despite being shorter than the other man, Rudolph was cowering before him. "And you, you idiot, decided to hurt him. You could have killed him. And this isn't the first time, is it?" Rudolph was too far gone to answer, instead letting out a slightly terrified whine at Robin – the acrobat could be pretty fucking scary when he tried. He'd begun walking again, backing the older man against a wall.

"You really are dumb, you know that?" As he spoke, his fist collided with the man's stomach, hard. He stepped out of the way swiftly as vomit hit the ground where he'd been. Terrified sobs left the man as he struggled to stand and regain his breath. "And pathetic. You're fucking pathetic."

It was then that Batman walked in, ready to stop his ward from doing any further harm, but instead he was greeted with a different scene. Robin, staring down at the cowering man, a sneer twisting his lip.

"Call the cops. He's not worth our time," he ground out to his mentor, who just nodded and placed the call. The Dynamic Duo was out of the room before they arrived, but when they did arrive, they found Rudolph West sitting on the floor crying, with his wife attempting to coax him up again.

Wally had to admit that staying with his Uncle was nice. He'd been immediately removed from his home after that night. It was nice getting all the food he needed and coming home to a hug from his aunt every day – or a hug at all. And with some generous donations from Wayne Enterprises, he hired one of the best lawyers in Central City to argue his case. Against his parents.

Against his parents.

He didn't like the idea of fighting against his parents. He was aware of the hell they'd put him through, and he didn't know if it was just his societal programming that was making him react that way, but he thought he still loved them. He'd heard that his parent's had gotten a visit from Batman and Robin, but nothing beyond that – until the court date.

Before that, Barry had made sure that he'd gotten a Protection from Abuse taken out against them, and that he was as safe as possible – but how could he be safer, cycling between staying at Barry's house, Wayne Manor, and Mt. Justice?

Before court, Barry, his lawyer, and Dick (mostly there for moral support) sat down and talked about everything that had happened, and how they were going to react. Wally didn't care – he just wanted it all to be done with.

When he walked into court, his parents looked like they always had, put together and unshaken. But he knew that they were both as nervous as he was. His father's passive look turned into a glare when they made eye contact. The only reason he didn't break down was because Dick was sitting in the seat right behind him, and he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Barry sat next to Dick, and when Wally seemed too nervous, he'd simply whisper encouraging words to his nefew.

It was too long, the court session, everything leading up to it, everything that happened after. Too long, and in the end, his parents were only charged with a misdemeanor, because they had technically only committed assault. Assault against a child – their child – but assault no less. His father was charged with three months jail time, probation for six months following that. His mother was on probation as well. Both faced a hefty fine. Dick felt it wasn't enough, wanted to push for a different punishment, but Bruce quickly talked him down from that.

It wasn't long after that his Aunt got full custody over him until he was eighteen. There was a restraining order keeping his parents from contacting him, though judging by the looks they gave him, he didn't need to worry about hearing from them again.

Coming home to freshly baked cookies and warm hugs was new, confusing, and just too awesome. He got all the food he needed, fit in as if he was their own child, and got to spend all the time around his mentor that he wanted. He wasn't called a super-freak, or a waste of space, and neither Barry nor Iris ever raised a hand against him.

Barry was guilt-ridden, as was to be expected, but he muscled past it to make sure that the younger boy didn't blame himself. He worked as hard as he could to make him welcome, and eventually, slowly, he got his smile back, his regular joy and love of life.

It was all too long – but it also flew by. Soon enough, it was time for him to return to his routine. He was used to the idea that he would have to go back someday, but he didn't know how they'd accept them, or how Black Canary would treat him at their counseling sessions or how people would act around him.

He voiced his concerns to Dick one night, spread out on his overlarge bed staring at the overlarge television with the over-nice video game console running.

"Will they treat me differently?" His voice betrayed him and shook, and he mentally cursed it.

"No. No they won't." Wally looked at Dick, surprised at his firm answer. How could he be so sure?

"How do you know?" Dick stared at him for a moment, unblinking, then sighed.

"Because most of them know what you went through, or know someone who did. Most of all, you're the same Wallman. We all still love you." Dick said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Wally just closed his eyes because he was done shedding tears about this. Instead, he felt Dick's arms surround him in a remarkably warm hug and he hugged back because this comfort was much more important that feeling manly.

"We're all your friends, and you've nothing to worry about from us," Dick's voice was so sure and he'd pulled through for Wally this long already – so he just hugged him back and believed him.

The next day, the zeta-beam announced his arrival, and there was a brief break in the conversation as everyone turned towards him. He stood stiffly for a moment, before a voice shattered the tension.

"Hey, Baywatch." Artemis smiled widely at him. Then M'gann was hugging him, and Kaldur was patting his shoulder and Dick was asking him to play video games and it was like nothing had happened and his face threatened to split into two with the size of his grin.

 **SO THERE YOU GO! Angry Robin is angry.**

 **It was written in two hours, and I'm just kind of tired now so I'm going to sleep. Goodnight.**

 **~Winglet**


End file.
